FINAL SPINAL, BABY, FINAL SPINAL !!!!!!!!!!

65 Days to Go!

Wonderful News!!! (aka; The Cake): You have no idea the joy I felt when the nurse turned to me during Kendrie’s lumbar puncture yesterday and said, “You realize this is her FINAL SPINAL, right?” What magnificent words, indeed! Of course, it’s also a bit scary to know that was the last time they will inject protective chemo into her spine, to prevent leukemia cells from entering her central nervous system. But if I can let go of my safety cord, and my fear and paranoia and panic and alarm and obsession and terror, then it’s a wonderful thing indeed. No more NPO procedures, (until she gets her port out, anyway) listening to her complain about how hungry she is and when will she be able to eat? No more driving to Atlanta the night before and staying in a hotel room; no more sleepy medicine, no more back pokes, no more all-day clinic appointments. Final spinal, baby --- what a milestone!

More Wonderful News (aka: The Icing on the Cake): We had allotted ourselves enough time yesterday for Kendrie to receive her 2-3 hour IVIG transfusion, but her counts were high enough that the doctor didn’t think it was warranted. So once we realized we were sprung from the clinic earlier than planned, we called our friends Jenny and Catie, who are staying at the Atlanta Ronald McDonald house while Catie undergoes radiation treatments for her brain tumor, and promptly invited ourselves for lunch. There is a slight chance that Jenny and Catie were just being polite, having no real choice in the matter since we barged in on them like that, but I think after staying far away from home for weeks on end, there is definitely a remote possibility that they actually enjoyed the company -- I know we sure did! Thanks, Jenny and Catie! We will miss you this weekend at the beach!

Worrisome News: (AP report, Watercolor, FL): Residents of Watercolor, Florida, a beautiful seaside resort located near Destin in the panhandle of Florida, are battening down the hatches yet again in anticipation of the fourth hurricane this season, expected to rip through their sleepy community sometime this weekend. Despite the head-on devastation of Hurricane Dennis in July, and the remnants of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita this fall, residents have feared nothing as much as they fear the havoc that might be wreaked by the latest in the string of fury released by Mother Nature: Hurricane Kendrie.

With steroid-force winds and gales raging at 100 TPH (tantrums per hour), Hurricane Kendrie is expected to make landfall in Watercolor at approximately noon on Thursday. According to the Farmers Almanac, Thursday *should* be a day of celebration -- Oct 13th -- as Kendrie revels in the two-year anniversary of the day she was diagnosed with leukemia and subsequently began kicking cancer’s butt. However, locals fear the side effects from this month’s steroid-storm system will overshadow any anniversary commemoration plans. Instead of planning merriment for the two years Kendrie has been a survivor, Watercolor residents are stocking up on mac & cheese, bacon, and zofran.

Other Georgia residents, converging on Watercolor in anticipation of joining the Escoe family at the Lighthouse Family Retreat, are warned to take cover and be prepared. Destruction effects could possibly include whining, crying, extreme hunger, disagreement, surliness, unfriendliness and hostility. Lingering effects could include weeping, howling, bickering, and pouting. Be afraid, people of Florida --- be very afraid.

Kristie
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KENDRIE’S PERSPECTIVE:

WORST PART ABOUT HAVING CANCER TODAY: Geez, Louise, where should I start? I have an entire laundry list of ways I was tortured and baited and set upon by cruel adults yesterday while I was at the clinic. First, I had to get sleepy medicine, which always makes me cry and moan, but overall, wasn’t too bad. But THEN, those nurses, who are nowhere NEAR as sneaky as they think they are, came up while I was still on the table and stuck a big needle in my arm ---- a Flu Shot! Did they think I wouldn’t notice??? And the only thing I hate worse than needles? Band-aids! Guess what they gave me over my flu shot? Band-aid #1. Then, the nurse-practitioner doing my LP stuck a band-aid on my back -- band aid #2! Then, like that’s not bad enough, like I haven’t suffered enough at the hands of these people, she couldn’t get all the tape off, so I came home with more tape on my back that I had to peel off ---- I WAS NOT VERY HAPPY LAST NIGHT WHEN I GOT IN THE BATHTUB AND KEPT FINDING BANDAIDS AND TAPE ALL OVER MY LITTLE BODY!!!! It’s not steroids that makes me crazy, IT’S ALL YOU STUPID BIG PEOPLE!!!!

BEST PART ABOUT HAVING CANCER TODAY: No doubt, it was getting to see my friend Catie at the Ronald McDonald House for lunch. Her grandma gave me a brownie (and I embarrassed my mom by not eating it all after I asked for it, but I was too full from all those goldfish the nurses gave me after my sleepy medicine) and I got to play in Catie’s room with some of her toys from home. It was a neat place, but I’m sure Catie and her mom are ready to be done with radiation and get back home with Catie’s daddy where they are much more comfortable.